DA drops charges against second Vallejo dispensary

Solano County prosecutors this week dismissed charges against members of a second former Vallejo medical marijuana collective that had been raided by police.

Hakeem Brown, 37, and Robert Matney, 27, had been charged with possession of marijuana for sale and maintaining a place for selling or using a controlled substance. Both were arrested following the Vallejo Police Department's April 20 raid at the Life Enhancement Services dispensary at 650 Benicia Road.

However, the Solano County District Attorney's Office on Thursday dismissed all charges pending further investigation. A hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to proceed with the charges had been set for Friday in Solano County Superior Court.

The dismissal of the charges follows a decision last month by a retired Solano County judge to toss out a separate case against two members of Vallejo's shuttered Better Health Group dispensary. Prosecutors say they are considering appealing that ruling, which found that the collective was protected by the state's medical-marijuana laws.

Deputy District Attorney Jack Harris would not say if the decision to drop charges against Brown and Matney had anything to do with the earlier ruling. Harris declined to comment on reasons for the dismissal, adding that no decision had been made on whether to refile the charges.

Both collectives had registered to pay the city's 2011 voter-approved tax on dispensaries, said San Rafael attorney Scot Candell, who represented Brown and Better Health Group founder Jorge Espinoza.

"This was a very expensive decision by the city of Vallejo and the county" to file these cases, Candell told the Times-Herald on Friday. "Unfortunately, we are back to where we started. ... the courts have said the collectives are operating legally, the collectives would like to work with the city to pay taxes and be members of the business community, and we will once again be going to the city and trying to work something out so we can move forward together."

Vallejo City Manager Dan Keen, however, said he thinks there is still too much legal confusion over the regulation of medical marijuana for the city to take action. In March, Keen advised the City Council against enforcing the dispensary tax until the laws became clearer.

"At this point I don't think anything's changed," Keen said Friday. "We haven't really discussed internally changing anything. We're still waiting for the state legal situation to get resolved so there's clearer direction to those of us out in the cities."

City Councilwoman Marti Brown said there have been no recent discussions at City Hall regarding policies about medical marijuana.

Brown said she had spoken with fellow Councilwoman Stephanie Gomes since the issue last came before the council, however, and both share similar frustrations over the council's inability to move forward on drafting regulations.

"It's nice that it's quieted down, both with the police raids and with people complaining ... but we know that something needs to be done," Brown said. "Lack of clarity is not good for anybody. But we have not really gotten a sense that we can move forward at this point because there's still some litigation going on throughout the state.